Ministry of Education
TALE OF TWO HEROES:
TWO WEST BENGAL TEACHERS CONFERRED WITH NATIONAL AWARD
Kolkata, 5th September, 2020
Two teachers from West Bengal received this year’s National Award to Teachers given by the Ministry of Education, Government of India. One of them is Smt. Misha Ghosal, headmistress of Dhanapati Toto Memorial High School in Alipurduar's Totopara, who simply devoted her life for the betterment of the school meant for the world's smallest primitive Toto tribe on the slopes of the Bhutan’s Tading hills of Madarihat block in Alipurduar district. The other awardee is Dr.Kalimul Haque, headmaster of Nepali Para Hindi High School of Durgapur, Paschim Bardhaman, who brought an ordinary nondescript high school into the limelight by achieving unattainable success.
Smt. Ghosal, originally a resident of Siliguri, took charge of the school on 25th September, 2008. After spending almost 12 years as the head mistress of this remote tribal school, she can now boast of her achievements, as her hard work has been acknowledged by the central government too. When Smt.Ghosal joined the school in 2008 , only one student from the primitive tribe was able to pass the Madhyamik. This year, the success rate from the community is over 80%. She almost single-handedly changed the scenario of the school. "My responsibilities as a teacher have increased by few folds after being named for this award," she said. “It was a thrilling experience when I came to know that I have been nominated for this coveted award. My family members, fellow teachers, friends and lots of other people congratulated me, and I remembered the day when I took over the charge of the school. Bhagirath Toto, who was the then school secretary, told me with folded hands, that nobody wanted to stay here and teach their children and requested me not to leave them. On that day I decided that as a teacher my objective would be to serve this deprived tribal community and spend my time with them”, Misha Ghosal told Press Information Bureau. Every day she has to travel nearly 22 kilometers to reach the school from her Madarihat- Totopara road residence. It takes around one and half hours to travel this stretch as she has to cross three rivers Titi, Bangri and Howri and innumerable small and big streams and dense forests to reach the school. As the area remains marooned during the monsoon season, she has also rented a house in Totopara so that she does not miss school. “Several times while travelling I came across herds of elephants or bisons on the road but these unfriendly situations could not deter me from my objective of serving these villagers”, said confident Ghosal. She has started e-classes, smart class rooms and stressed on joyful learning. Her application of innovative music therapy has evoked immense response from the students. Not only that, she has also stressed upon extra-curricular activities like music, drawing, playing etc for all round development of the students and made one thing sure that not a single class remained unattended by the teachers. The head mistress, though not being from the Toto community herself, learnt Toto culture, their habits, their likings, their music, folk culture, their dance, food habits and other things to mingle with them and to understand them and her efforts have ultimately started bearing fruit. The school has started class XI-XII this year. The math’s teacher is putting up an all round effort towards fulfilling her dreams of building a school to be reckoned with respect and admiration.
Another award winning teacher is Dr. Kalimul Haque, the headmaster of Nepalipara Hindi School in Durgapur, West Burdwan. While talking to the Press Information Bureau Dr. Haque said that the national recognition is a booster for him, as it would act as a stimulus to devote much more time and energy for the betterment of the school and the students. He practically revamped not only the infrastructure of the school but the image of the school too. “When I joined this school in 2010 the infrastructure was very poor, it had only 10 class rooms and 19 teachers. Now it has 57 class rooms and 34 teachers, not only that now the school has a computer lab with 40 machines, 5 smart class rooms, well equipped library with a standard sized reading room, centralized audio system, a kitchen garden, a vermicomposting set-up, solid and liquid waste management, a rainwater harvesting system, a big auditorium and an art gallery. Cultivation using hydroponics method has also been taken up as a pilot project” said Dr. Haque. However the modest headmaster does not want to take the credit of his recognition solely by himself but want to share it among his teachers too. “What has been achieved today wouldn’t have been possible without the active and concerted effort of my fellow teachers and others attached to the school”, said Dr. Haque. Apart from the support of the Assansol-Durgapur Development Authority  and DSP, SAIL, local people, business organizations through its CSR fund and individuals from all walks of the society contributed to refurbish the school either in cash or kind. The acceptance of the school has also increased among the students with each of the passing years, when Dr. Haque took over the charge of this school in 2010 there were 2049 students, now the number has increased to 3625. Earlier the pupil of this school used to become a subject of mockery for others, now the students proudly says from which school they belong to and their lies the success of Dr. Kalimul Haque.
National Award to Teachers was instituted in 1958. The purpose of the scheme is to celebrate the unique contribution of some of the finest teachers in the country and to honor those teachers who through their commitment and industry have not only improved the quality of school education but also enriched the lives of their students. The Ministry of Education, Department of School Education & Literacy, constituted an Independent Jury at National Level to select the award recipients for the year 2020. The Independent Jury at National Level reviewed the list of 153 teachers as shortlisted by all the 36 State & UT Selection Committees and 7 Organisation Selection Committees through Video Conferencing. The Jury considered the applications and presentations made by all shortlisted teachers and after detailed deliberations recommended the names of 47 candidates for the National Awards to Teachers, 2020.
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